


Tinker Bell

by Antarc



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Steve Harrington-centric, Steve gets a cat, that's it that's the fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-09
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26377732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Antarc/pseuds/Antarc
Summary: Five times Steve's cat made his life a little bit better, plus one time it also made Billy happier.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 10
Kudos: 107





	Tinker Bell

**Steve is fifteen** when his parents get him a purebred Maine Coon. Technically, it’s his mom’s for all of two weeks, who on a whim decides that she misses the cats that roamed her own childhood home and within the same day has the number of a reputable breeder. She gets these ideas sometimes, like when she thinks the living room needs a different sofa or Steve’s dad needs an entirely new set of suits. Steve wouldn’t be surprised if the idea to have him was brought up on one such whims as well. 

Except his mom kind of forgets that a cat is a living, breathing thing that doesn’t just sit still like one of the ornamental pieces she likes to swap out in the front entrance. It’s much like Steve in that way: Shiny and new and fun until the excitement wears off and her interest wanes. And then it becomes his dad’s problem to deal with.

Steve’s mom names the cat ‘Pudding’. She gets scratch posts and litter boxes strategically placed in corners of the house that won’t immediately make Steve’s dad lose his mind about the impression they would leave on dinner guests. She drags Steve to ‘Pudding’s’ first vet appointment and gushes to him about all the fun ways they can play with her. And then she just loses interest a month later when she goes on the next trip with his dad to Italy. She tells Steve to take care of the cat like she showed him. And he may not know it in that moment, but this is when she becomes his cat.

The house is as deserted as it usually is when his parents leave- except the bright sound of the bell on the cat’s collar cuts through it almost immediately and lights the entire place up. So Steve calls her Tinker Bell instead.

 **Steve is sixteen** and Tinker Bell won’t stop following him through the house whenever he’s home. She loves when he plays with her, loves to walk right between his legs to get him to pet her, making him stumble in his haste not to step on her. And she won’t. stop. growing. She’s a brown tabby with these pretty dark ear tufts that make her look like a wildcat if you only see her approach out of the corner of your eye. All she does is meow at him for more attention and enthusiastically greets visitors when he dares to have a party. 

**It’s when Steve is seventeen** , freshly home from fighting a goddamn inter-dimensional monster, that it hits him how Barb Holland must have died right in his backyard. He lies in his bed, face still bruised and swollen and aching and watches the light reflections from the pool play along his ceiling while he struggles to breathe. He’s bathed in icy cold sweat. He feels like his limbs are pinned to the mattress, stiff and chilled to the bone while his heart feels like it will beat out of his chest.

Distantly, he can hear the jingle of Tink’s bell coming closer. Feels the mattress lightly dip where her not inconsiderable weight weighs it down, feels her settle on top of his chest and start purring so hard it rattles his rib cage. It still takes a long time until he can move his stiff hands to pet her, but by then he’s started to warm up again from her body heat seeping into his skin.

 **At eighteen** , when he loses his girlfriend and the last vestiges of his dignity at school, he sullenly curls up on the new chaise lounge in the living room- his mom’s most recent spontaneous purchase- with Tinker Bell draped over his entire lap and tries to drown his broken heart, his bruised ego and his confused feelings about Billy Hargrove in his dad’s most expensive whiskey. When that doesn’t work, it’s only between him and Tink when she lets him cry into her silky soft fur for way longer than he’d like to admit.

 **He’s nineteen** when he introduces his girl to Billy Hargrove.  
“Holy fuck, that is Tinker Bell?” is the very first thing that comes out of Billy’s mouth the moment he steps foot into the foyer and they're greeted by the now familiar sound of her bell and an enthusiastic meow. “Judging from the name, I thought she’d be a tiny thing.” Of course she immediately runs towards Billy, curious about the new visitor to her domain. The way Billy carefully holds his hand out for her to sniff makes Steve smile. He watches as she rubs herself against Billy, clearly enjoys the tentative pets he gives her before she turns towards Steve.

He knows he’s her favorite. Waits in amusement for her to show off her newest trick: With laser focus, her eyes settle on him and with a by now well-practiced leap, she easily hops onto his shoulders, where she settles heavy and content like an eight-pound stole. Steve’s shoulders are just wide enough to not have her fall off and Billy’s reaction- wide eyes, mouth dropped open- is so worth the wait.

Of course his parents just had to pick the summer after Steve’s graduation to spend an extended amount of time in Hawkins again, to really make sure his humiliation of not getting into college was rubbed in properly. And of course it intersected with Steve getting together with Billy, with wanting to finally have a private moment where they can do more than spend a few stolen moments making out at the back of the arcade.

The end of summer is near. They’ve survived a massive meat monster together. And Steve has a boyfriend who is cat-approved. He feels like things can’t get much better than this, honestly.

 **\+ Steve is freshly turned twenty** and holding all twelve pounds of cat in his lap, sitting in the passenger seat of Billy’s car. Warm summer air flows through his hair, whips Tink’s luscious mane and Billy’s curls. They're finally, finally leaving Hawkins behind. 

Billy catches his eyes with that fond, private smile that creeps onto his face when it’s just the two of them. Like he reserves it just for special moments like these. 

“I can’t believe we’re really doing this,” Steve tells him, giddy with excitement for what’s to come. Billy’s smile just gets wider, more cheeky. 

“I can’t believe I’m letting your walking fur ball into my car. I’m never gonna get all that hair out.” Steve laughs, playfully swats at Billy’s arm. “Oh, and don’t get me started on your mop of hair,” Billy laughs right back.


End file.
